Naruto: An Alternative Story
by CaptainCactuar
Summary: An alternative take on the events of Part II, the story until now is the same as the manga. Hopefully the stories here will be a welcome change for those who weren't satisfied with the originals or would like to read a similar story with a different spin.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the story or any of the characters or ideas within it.**

This is my first fanfic so forgive me for any minor problems, constructive criticism would be very much appreciated and any suggestions for improvement are welcomed. I'm writing this because I enjoy writing and exercising my imagination and creation. The characters and back story of Naruto allow me to do this with less effort needed to establish the characters and history so I can focus on writing an alternative and hopefully interesting version of the events. In all of my chapters, the history and story of Part I remains the same as that of the manga, the only differences being those I introduce in each successive story. Anyway, hope you enjoy reading and once again, any feedback will be welcomed.

**Introduction  
**Chapter 1 focuses on the meeting between Team Kakashi, led by Yamato, and Sasuke.

'_Character's thoughts' (the character thinking will be indicated).  
__**Demon Fox**__will be indicated  
"speech"  
__Flashbacks__will be indicated_

Chapter 1: Meeting Sasuke

In the centre of a large crater, two figures stand together with intent, the force between them enormous. One stands for light, the other for dark, and they both have nothing but each other on their minds. _This is it. Finally standing face to face. I will bring you back, Sasuke._

Naruto stood motionless with wide eyes as Sasuke rested gently against him, one arm stretched out to his side with his kusunagi blade in hand. Sakura, Yamato and Sai both gasped as Sasuke swung his arm around, twisting his wrist and consequently the sword so they were pointing down and with a small grunt and push forward Sasuke drove his arm down. The blade drew closer to Naruto's back but was stopped mere inches from his jacket by a partially gloved hand. Sai stood behind Naruto holding Sasuke's wrist with an outstretched arm. The two unfamiliar boys stared at each other for seconds, Sai's cold dark eyes meeting the fierce red of Sasuke's sharingan, before Sai grabbed Naruto's side with his free arm and swung him outwards. Naruto spun around, twisting and dropping to the ground as Sai let go and pushed forward in a tackle. Sasuke was unprepared for the movement and let his blade drop to the side as he was driven to the ground by Sai. Before Sai could launch another attack Sasuke was spinning and Sakura let out a scream. Sai could see the edge of Sasuke's blade mere inches from his face, but it wasn't moving. Jumping backwards and landing in a crouch, Sai saw the large twisting mass of bark that had burst forth from the ground and wound around Sasuke's hand and the hilt of the sword.

"Ugh! You think this is going to stop me?" Sasuke gasped as he stretched his body, electrical sparks flying from his clothes and up the wooden arm. Yamato grunted and focused harder forcing more wood to break free from beneath the dirt and wrap around Sasuke's legs and waist. Naruto began to walk closer to Sasuke, his large blue eyes trying not to let tears fall at the sight of his old best friend struggling to break free. Naruto reached Sasuke and put an arm on his shoulder, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.

"Sasuke…don't you understand? Orochimaru is going to take over your body! You can't let him do it!" Naruto gripped tightly and tugged at Sasuke's top, fist shaking and arm trembling. Yamato, Sai and Sakura watched as Naruto slowly opened his eyes and Sasuke looked back, his eyes unblinking.

"Please Sasuke. Come back with us! You can still…!" Naruto let go of the top and pushed himself backwards as Sasuke's arm, charged with a chidori, swung around in a curve towards where Naruto had been only seconds ago. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief as Naruto dodged the hit but the team quickly realised it wasn't Naruto Sasuke had been aiming for. The attack drove deep in to the wood grasping his right arm, shattering it into thousands of tiny pieces and splintering the rest of the wood binding his legs and waist. Yamato had lost his focus and the wood was easily destroyed as Sasuke sent a chidori nagashi running through his body and stunning Sai who was standing close to him.

"Like I said before, that won't stop me!" Sasuke began to dash towards Yamato who began making hand signs. Sakura hung back and watched the unfolding events with shock whilst Sai opened his sketch pad and began drawing several dogs. Sasuke began to charge another chidori as he ran towards Yamato but before he could get anywhere near the ANBU captain launched a mass of sharp wooden spears in his direction. Sasuke discharged the chidori and just managed to avoid the barrage of spears by leaping to his right, rolling over and then running in Sai's direction. Yamato turned to face Sasuke again and sent several vines shooting towards him, but Sasuke easily cut through them with his kusunagi.

"Your wooden jutsu is interesting, but against me it's useless." Sasuke's grin turned into a grimace of pain as his back burst into flame and he was thrown forwards onto his front.

"Naruto!" Sasuke could hear Sakura gasp, and as he slowly pushed himself up and turned around he saw Naruto standing with one arm up, fingers curled into a ring in front of his mouth. He was smiling and Sakura was looking at him with an amazed expression on her face. Sasuke, however, frowned and held up a hand, motioning towards Naruto.

"So I see you learnt some new jutsu. That's nice. But it's nothing I can't handle. That was a basic katon technique and if that's the best you can do, I'd give up now." Sasuke stared at Naruto, his sharingan reflecting Naruto's gaze, but his former team mate smiled and raised an arm in gesture.

"I've learnt a lot in the last three years and if you think I'm gonna give up then you're wrong!" Sakura stared admiringly at Naruto as he began to make more hand seals. Sasuke immediately went into action, darting towards Naruto at high speed but before he could make it a small knob of wood erupted from the ground in front of him. Sasuke's foot hit the wood and he tripped, falling down mere meters away from Naruto who formed his final seal. A large gust of wind began blowing towards Sasuke and it quickly got fiercer. The Uchiha managed to push himself up but the force of the wind was strong and he found it hard to maintain his balance. Yamato and Sakura were standing behind Naruto and so were out of the large gust but Sai was to the side and holding onto a large rock jutting from the ground as well as trying to keep a grip on his sketchpad. Yamato saw Sai and strapped him tightly to the rock with a large trunk of wood, allowing his arms to work the book. Sasuke crouched down and managed to get a grip on his sword but the gust of wind was becoming stronger and it was getting harder for him to hold onto the ground with his feet by using chakra.

"Naruto, just keep it up a bit longer!" Sai shouted over the impressive sound of the wind blasting towards him. As Sasuke took a step forward, trying to make it to Naruto, Sai held out his book as much as he could allow, and four large dog-like creatures leapt from the page charging towards Sasuke through the wind. They leapt on him and knocked him over, sending him crashing along the ground as the strong gust blew him into the centre of the crater. Just as Sakura thought it was over she saw Naruto form more hand seals, blowing a large stream of fire into the gust. As soon as the flame was caught in the wind it was amplified and increased, a large surging flame that raced along the path of the wind towards Sasuke who had just managed to slice through the ink monsters attacking him. His eyes widened as the flame engulfed him and Sai threw a hand up in triumph as their opponent disappeared from sight in the flame. Naruto instantly began to run into the billowing cloud of smoke in the crater with Sakura beginning to follow.

"Naruto! Wait up!"

"Both of you be careful! I don't think it's over yet!" Just as Yamato stopped speaking there was a yell that he recognized as Naruto and a scream that followed belonging to Sakura. The cloud of smoke from the flame started to clear and Yamato released the wood binding Sai. They hurried forward and as the smoke was blown away, their eyes widened in shock as they saw Sakura standing on shaking knees a few feet from Sasuke who held Naruto up to a large protruding boulder with one hand, the other holding a blade that ran through Naruto's chest. Sakura sobbed and Yamato started to run forward whilst Sai watched with an absent expression on his face. '_He's dead? What is this feeling? Loss? Sadness?'_Images of the four of them together began to flash through Sai's mind and his face slackened, his brow creasing. He opened his sketchbook and began to draw quickly, hoping he could get what he was planning right. Yamato stopped next to Sakura, putting an arm out to steady her and keep her from falling, watching in shock as Sasuke stared up at Naruto who had his eyes closed and blood trickling from his mouth.

"Fool. You should have known that a jutsu like that wouldn't be able to stop me. My chidori nagashi can protect me from some of the damage and my curse seal helps as well." As Sasuke spoke, he shuffled his shoulder forward, his body twisting as a result, and Yamato could see the partially activated curse seal spread over Sasuke's face, neck and chest. Sakura looked up and wiped tears from her eyes, her mouth closing and opening as Sasuke pressed forward. The blade sunk deeper into Naruto's torso and a new river of blood trickled down his chin, the front of his jacket blossoming deep red around where the blade disappeared into it. Sasuke stared at Naruto for a moment longer before pulling the blade from his body and stepping backwards. Naruto dropped lifelessly to the ground and Sakura ran forward to him, dropping to her knees and picking up his head in her arms, tears spilling down onto his calm face.

"You…you…he tried to save you! How could you!?" Sasuke looked at her blankly, not saying a word or moving a muscle. Yamato stepped forward and went to make a series of hand seals but caught sight of something in the corner of his eye and stopped. Sakura looked up at Sasuke, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes and running down her face, but her eyes sharpened as she saw something approach Sasuke from behind. Sasuke noticed and spun around, swinging his kusunagi around with him to slice at Sai but it was met instead by a splash of ink. Sasuke threw his spare arm up to shield his eyes as ink splattered his shirt and bottoms and the ink figure hit him with a fist, throwing him back into the rock that he had held Naruto against. He hit it hard and slid down with some force, pushing himself up and focusing on the ink monster that had hit him. He grunted as he saw what the creature was; a very crude but recognizable ink drawing of Naruto.

"You like it?" Sai stood several feet away from the rest of them holding his sketchpad in one hand and his pen in the other with an unusual smile on his face. The ink version of Naruto didn't give Sasuke time to recover however, and moved straight in for another attack, but Sasuke easily dodged and slashed at it again with his sword, this time charging it with a chidori. The blade cut through the Naruto copy but the ink that splashed onto the floor rejoined the rest of the figure restoring its missing limbs. Sasuke launched a chidori blade through the imitation, piercing where its heart would be. Sai smiled, and was about to remark on how the ink Naruto couldn't be harmed by Sasuke's blade, when he realised the blade wasn't meant for the ink figure.

"Sai! Watch out!" Yamato shouted and made to move forward but it was too late. Had Sai not moved he would have been pierced through the heart, but he had tried diving to the left, throwing his right arm in front of him as he did so. The blade didn't hit his chest as intended but cut through the back of his hand and the sketchpad he was holding in it instead. The ink Naruto simply melted and left a rather small puddle of ink on the ground in front of Sasuke. The Uchiha smiled and took a step forward but when he tried to take a second step he was stopped. Yamato had once again wrapped his feet in wood. Sasuke sent a chidori nagashi through his body but the wood wasn't affected and held strong. Yamato pushed his hand out in an upwards arcing motion and as he completed it, Sasuke felt his feet leave the ground as he was picked up and thrown by the attack. The vine carried him through the air and slammed him down on the outer edge of the crater before retreating back into the ground. Sasuke pushed himself up and looked towards Sakura and Naruto who was now getting up.

'_Still alive? Just like when we fought before..._' Sasuke frowned and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he did so. Naruto got to his feet with a little help from Sakura and stood next to Yamato as he looked up towards Sasuke. Sai was kneeling on the ground behind the two of them and Sakura rushed to heal him. Yamato kept his eyes on Sasuke but lowered his voice as he spoke to Naruto.

"I didn't want to do this with you around, I know he's your friend, but if you want him back I'll need to use some of my more…_crude_ techniques, to say the least. Do you think you can control yourself? We don't want the Kyubbi coming out now or we could all be in trouble, you understand?" Yamato took his eyes off Sasuke and looked at Naruto, waiting for an answer. The boy was obviously struggling to make a decision and eventually one side won over for now. Naruto took a step forward and creased his brow in concentration.

"Anything to get him back. I'll help." Naruto looked as determined as he had ever been but Yamato frowned as he stretched his fingers, getting ready to perform some of his more complicated seals. He leaned in closer to Naruto and spoke a little louder.

"No, I'll do this alone. We can't risk you getting hurt."

"Err, didn't you notice I just got stabbed a minute ago?" Yamato took a moment to consider this and when Sasuke opened his eyes and stared at them he answered quickly and quietly.

"Fine then, you can help but we work as a team. We take him out together. Right?" Yamato waited for a reply, hoping Naruto would agree. If the boy's stubbornness came through now they could all be in a lot of trouble.

"Right! Let's do this!" He thrust a hand into the air and stared directly at Sasuke. The two pairs of eyes met for a single moment, red against blue, and in that single moment Yamato could see, could _feel_ the power between the two. '_They have a strong bond and both have potential. But Naruto…he is special in a way that no one else is. I can't explain it…_' Yamato took a step forward and stretched his neck upwards to look at Sasuke, as did Naruto. Sai and Sakura joined them on either side and the four prepared themselves for the rest of the fight.

"We're going to take you back now, even if it means beating you to a pulp!"

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to resort to this but you've pushed me to use some of my more advanced techniques", Yamato spoke boldly. "This battle ends here. If you want to give up now I suggest you do it." Deep down Yamato hoped that Sasuke would just surrender and decide to accompany them back but he knew even deeper down that it wouldn't happen. If they wanted Sasuke back they would have to fight for him and if he was going to play tough to get they would have to fight hard.

"I think I've had enough of this now. I'll defeat you all with my next jutsu."

"Defeat all four of us with one jutsu?" Sakura enquired with a mixture of awe, fear and anger barely holding her voice steady.

"Damn it Sasuke!" Naruto growled fiercely. The four team mates braced themselves for whatever might come next. Sasuke began to form hand seals that were a blur and Yamato was only just able to make them out. He raised his hands to prepare for whatever was to come but he had no idea what type of jutsu Sasuke had that would be powerful enough to kill all four of them. Sakura gasped and Yamato made a single hand seal before raising his arm and moving to slam it into the ground. Sasuke also raised his arm at the same time and both were about to strike the ground when they were stopped. Yamato looked to his right and saw Sai gripping his upper arm tightly. Yamato's eyes widened questioningly but Sai just nodded towards Sasuke. As Yamato looked up, he saw that Sasuke's arm had also been stopped. The person holding onto Sasuke's arm stepped forward and both Naruto and Sakura gasped at the sight of Orochimaru. Yamato took a step backwards and relaxed his arm as Sai let go. Sasuke stared at Orochimaru and growled under his breath, pulling his arm roughly from Orochimaru's grasp.

"What are you doing? I was about to finish them off."

"Well now, we wouldn't want that would we Sasuke-kun?"

"It's none of your business. Now let go of my arm." Sasuke and Orochimaru's stared at each other for several moments before the older man let go and turned his attention to the four ninja standing below him in the crater. Yamato noticed Kabuto appear slightly behind Sasuke and Orochimaru but ignored him; the latter two were far bigger threats. Orochimaru stepped forward and licked his lips with his long, snake-like tongue as it began to rain.

"Hmm…so the nine-tails jinchuuriki is here, eh? What fun you've been having Sasuke-kun, kukukukukuku. Still, best we leave them alive for now."

"Why? They serve us no purpose and they might get in the way of my plans. Why shouldn't I just kill them now?" Sasuke was looking at Orochimaru but it was Kabuto who stepped forward and smiled towards Naruto before speaking up to Sasuke.

"If we leave them alive, they may be able to take care of some of the Akatsuki for us. Anything that improves your chances against Itachi, right?" Kabuto smirked and took a step back nearer to Orochimaru who was smiling at Sasuke with a glint of desire in his eyes, rain falling down his cheeks in oddly straight lines. Sasuke looked down at the team and then turned from them, looking at Orochimaru and nodding.

"Very well then. It's time we leave." The trio turned and disappeared in a large puff of smoke. Naruto attempted to run up the side of the crate towards them but they were gone before he could make it to the edge. He fell to his knees whilst Sakura hung her head, Sai rubbed his hand wound and Yamato relaxed, slouching and then sitting down on the slightly muddy floor. He motioned for the others to join him and they did so, all apart from Naruto who was still kneeling in the mud at the edge of the crater. Sakura slowly walked up to him from behind, placing her hand on his shoulder and gripping it. After a few moments Naruto turned his head and Sakura gasped. He was grinning and held his thumb up, making Sakura chuckle a little.

"You…you're happy?" She looked slightly confused and a little more than dazed.

"We got to see Sasuke again. And now I know that I need to train even harder to beat him and get him back." Sakura stared at the boy in wonder for a moment until Naruto stood up and put a hand on her shoulder as well.

"We can train together, right Sakura-chan?" He grinned a little and she continued to stare at him, her mouth twitched and then broke into a smile as tears cascaded down her cheeks. She flung herself into Naruto's arms and he staggered back in surprise, at first feeling awkward but then putting his arms around her. She cried into his jacket for what he could only think of as a long time before pulling away, wiping her eyes and nose, sniffing, smiling at him in a way she had never done before then turning and walking towards Sai who was taking torn pages out of his sketchpad. Yamato stood with his hands pressed together and spoke loudly.

"_Mokuton, Shichuuka no Jutsu_!" A large wooden cabin began to erupt from the ground in the middle of the crater and Yamato walked inside. Sai followed and Sakura after him but Naruto remained outside for a moment, letting the rain fall down his face, wetting his hair and clothes. _'I promised Sakura-chan I'd bring him back. I won't break my promise.'_

"Sasuke, I'll get you back, no matter what it takes. I've got some surprises of my own and I won't stop training until I achieve my goals." Naruto spoke loudly to the dark storm clouds above him and they rolled with thunder as he finished. Lightning shot across the sky, reminding him of Kakashi and Sasuke for a brief moment before he turned and started to head for the cabin. Inside the cabin Sakura was starting to cook something on a small stove out of her backpack, Yamato was filling out some forms and Sai was still attempting to fix his sketchpad whilst sitting in the corner on a chair. Naruto walked over to him and sat down looking at the book. There was a thin and clean cut that ran right through the thickness of the book and from the looks of the paper Sai was tearing from it the blade had damaged the centre of every single picture. Sai looked slightly sad and for a moment Naruto was confused but then it began to sink in that Sai's entire personality and life was summed up in his drawings. Naruto picked up one of the crumpled pieces of paper and unfolded it, trying to smooth out as many of the creases as he could. He held up the picture and studied it. It was a drawing of Sai and another boy and the picture itself was very good but the hole in the middle definitely ruined it. The electric current that had run through the book had slightly fried the pages. Sai looked up at Naruto, as if he hadn't noticed him sit down, and then glanced at the picture Naruto was holding.

"These were important to you?"

"Hmm. I don't know what you mean. Although I think I am beginning to. Is it like the feeling I got when I saw you with the sword through your chest?"

"Well, I don't know. What did you feel when you saw me like that?" Naruto tilted his head, quite interested in what Sai's reaction would be. Although they hadn't gotten off to a great start the fight had definitely improved Naruto's opinion of him.

"I think I felt sad. I don't have any pictures now. All my memories are gone." Sai gazed at the blank page of the pad, as if looking deep into the hole that pierced its centre. Eventually Naruto spoke in an attempt to cheer Sai up.

"Hey, well at least you can make new memories, right!?" He gave a large grin and Sai stared for a moment before smiling back. Naruto jumped up and turned to Yamato and Sakura who both looked up from their work at the sound of him landing. He smiled and raised his hand in the air.

"We won't fail next time! And we'll bring Sasuke back for sure!" They all looked at him for a moment before smiling and it was only a few moments before they all broke out laughing, the sound warming the small cabin in the middle of the storm.


End file.
